Remote learning or classes are here to stay. Some school districts are said to be considering remote learning as a way of doing away with snow days. At least that’s an honest statement about remote learning. Unlike statements made during the beginning of the school year claiming that there will be no remote learning classes this term.
Worse than that is the lack of planning in case remote classes have to be reinstated because of the virus.
Remote Learning
And so it was declared by out-going Mayor DeBlasio and incoming Mayor Adams, there would be no remote learning option. How wrong they are. Not long after the school year started, schools were having to close because of the virus. This was a hot flash in the news and soon died. It was not long before statements of no remote learning returned to the forefront of the news. But that too was wrong.
Read: East Harlem school closes due to COVID-19 outbreak: DOE
Remote Learning Charter Schools Don’t Count
My granddaughter attends a charter school in East New York and has been in remote learning all but one or two months of the first half of the school year. Which in her case began in August of 2021. In one instance she was in remote learning from about Thanksgiving until the beginning of 2022.
But to listen to the media, the school chancellor, and both mayors remote learning did not happen. Maybe it’s just her school or maybe charter schools don’t count.
Teacher Shortage And More
Like other schools, my granddaughter’s charter school has a teacher shortage. This leaves the school vulnerable to impromptu shutdowns.
Case in point, the fifth grade was shut down for a time, not because of Covid-19, but because two teachers left to “pursue a different career choice,” and another went on leave.
In another instance, the entire fifth grade was closed because someone came down with the virus. This resulted in parents and students scrambling to get tested.
In both cases, remote learning was implemented.
Speak No Evil Or In This Case The Truth
Losing three teachers was enough to shut down an entire grade. Did you hear about that, no? And you never will. The fact is classes and sometimes schools are being moved to remote learning despite what you might have heard. Or maybe not heard. But wait, there may be a glimmer of hope and of common sense thinking.
A Glimmer of Common Sense
Mayor Adams says he is weighing a ‘temporary’ remote learning option.
Excerpt:
Mayor Eric Adams said on Thursday his administration is considering a “temporary” remote learning option for the significant number of students who are already staying home during the pandemic.
There appeared to be no actual policy shift on Thursday, and no active planning for a remote option that would coincide with the current Omicron surge, which already appears to be plateauing across the city. Instead, the city and the teachers’ union appeared to be negotiating in public about whether and how to implement a remote learning option.
The two sides have — for nearly two years — been unable to agree on whether teachers should be allowed to live-stream their in-classroom lessons to students learning at home. Without such an agreement, it’s unlikely that a remote option will materialize.
More Like A Faint Spark
So here we have the “greatest city in the world” unable to agree on how to use a teaching method that is already in use in other parts of the country. This too has died out as a possibility.
Sometimes you just want to scream.
So there you have it. No remote learning and no plan. Everyone wants our kids to succeed, but little is being done to make it so. To highlight how bad this problem is I created a short article chronicling what the school year looked like for my grandchild. Click on the button below to read that article.
In keeping with a theme of sorts let’s talk about Covid-19 and the new normal, man I hate that expression.
The New Normal
Unvaccinated people where ever they are in the world will continue to place the rest of us at risk. Herd immunity is something we will not reach unless a large population of the planet, not the country is vaccinated. But don’t take my word for it, look it up. People who want herd immunity, but are willing to do what it takes to get there are stopping it from becoming a reality.
Covid-19 Has Changed Everything
Covid-19 in its various forms, not unlike the flu or common cold, is here to stay. And we need to adjust to that or be prepared for another round of shutdowns across the board.
What We Must Prepare For
- Yearly vaccinations will become as common as the flu shot.
- Because Covid-19 can shut down schools, remote learning is here to stay and, a robust teaching method using this type of learning needs to be developed.
- Mask and at-home test kits will be the new normal. They may not always be in use, but they will be at the ready in every home.
- We will eventually return to gatherings and celebrations, but with a change that reflects the precautions, we will be taking. Ie. For a party you are giving you, yes you, will require proof of vaccination and or masks.
- Sanitizers will become commonplace.
If this is the worse that it gets, then we will have gotten off easy. I can’t imagine what more will change, but no one except maybe the CDC ever thought we would face a pandemic.
And then there is this.
The Stealth Virus
Is ‘Stealth Omicron’ a New COVID Variant? Here’s What Experts Say
Excerpt, Chicago’s top doctor said “stealth omicron,” also known as BA.2, is not technically a new COVID variant, and has not yet been classified as a variant of interest or concern by international authorities. It’s actually a subvariant or sub-type of the omicron variant.
“It’s still omicron,” Chicago Department of Public Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady said Tuesday. “It’s just… sort of certain letters point one versus certain letters point two. It’s a slight variation in terms of what is being picked up, but I want to be really clear it has not even been classified as a variant of interest yet… this isn’t even a new variant.”
If any of what you just read sounded familiar it should. The same was said about the coronavirus before it was designated Covid-19 short SARS-CoV-2. And again for the Delta and Omicron variants.
Before you think coverup, stop. This type of downplaying fears is the procedure that the CDC and other health agencies use. It prevents alarming the public and creating a panic. People want answers now, not later. So this is what you get as an answer. It is up to you to use reason and common sense to form an opinion.
In One Person’s Opinion
Refusal to fight this enemy led to variants that we did not see coming. In the end, that lack of a unified attack against Covid-19 resulted in continued deaths, hospitalizations and yes shool closures.
People still fight hard to run the risk of catching the virus. I find this to be a reiduclous concept. Nonetheless it exist.
So, instead of fighting the virus we waste time fighting each other.
If the virus was a person it would be laughing and saying, “Dance puppets dance”, as we die.
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